Depth Charts

Derek Stepan picked up a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 5-4 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Stepan was arguably Arizona’s biggest acquisition this offseason, and they’ll need him to perform at a high level if they want to have a better season than they did last year. He had 17 goals and 55 points with the New York Rangers last season. Expect him to post similar numbers this year.

Christian Dvorak generated 15 goals and 33 points in 78 games during his rookie season.

He also recorded the second-most faceoff wins in the league among rookies (471) and finished with a 46.8 winning percentage. Dvorak made great progress over the year and should be a key player on the Coyotes in 2017-18. "As time went on, you saw his confidence increase," said TSN’s Director of Scouting Craig Button. "You saw his production increase. You saw him expand his game and, trust me, that's just a sign of things to come. He is a real, real promising young player."

"I don't' want him to come in and think we're going to stick him on the checking line and play three minutes a game," Tocchet said. "If he's going to make our team, we've got to play him and let him be creative with the puck ... I want him to be able to hang on the puck and make plays. I don't want him to all of sudden try to be a checker or a guy who just keeps dumping the puck in because he's nervous or whatever. I want him to make plays." The Coyotes expect big things from Strome when he plays at the NHL level, but they will not rush him onto the roster. He will compete for a spot at training camp.

Nick Cousins has signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Arizona Coyotes.

The Coyotes acquired Cousins and goalie prospect Merrick Madsen from the Philadelphia Flyers on June 16 in exchange for forward prospect Brendan Warren and a 2018 fifth-round pick. Cousins had six goals and 16 points in 60 games with the Flyers in 2016-17. He was a restricted free agent.

Brad Richardson (leg) is eager to get back on the ice for an NHL contest this season.

Richardson missed most of the 2016-17 campaign after he sustained a fractured fibula and tibia. He underwent surgery on Nov. 18 and had another procedure at the end of March to "clean up some things" inside his leg. "If training camp started tomorrow I'd be out there," Richardson said. "I feel night-and-day different than I did four months ago. I probably need a little more time on the ice and some reps, but I'm feeling really good and I'm ready to go." At 32 years of age, Richardson is now the oldest player on the roster and he's looking forward to leading by example.

Bolland will probably open the season on the long-term injured reserve list after failing his physical. "He’s working towards trying to (play), but again injuries are what they are. He’s been trying to comeback from that injury for the last nine months and he hasn’t gotten to the stage where he can do that to be cleared," said agent Anton Thun. "His goal is to try to continue to play, but at some point in time, it may just be not happening. He may never play again." He's completed two seasons of his five-year, $27.5 million deal.

The 'Yotes have no captain because they parted ways with veteran Shane Doan, but that doesn't seem to bother the young winger. "The way you’ve got to look at it is everyone is going to step up in different situations and everyone is going to hold each other accountable," Domi said. "There’s no real one leader on a team. The whole captain thing is overrated. Yeah, it says a lot and everyone looks up to you, but everyone in that locker-room is a leader and everyone handles situations differently and makes that team go."

Brendan Perlini scored a goal in Monday's 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

The 21-year-old was selected in the first round, 12th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Perlini had 14 goals and 21 points in 57 games with the Coyotes last season. He added 19 points in 17 AHL games. Perlini is loaded with skill, but he might need a little more time to develop his game before he becomes a legitimate fantasy contributor.

Clayton Keller had a pair of assists Saturday in a 5-4 shootout loss to San Jose.

The ultra-talented winger is playing alongside Derek Stepan and Max Domi on the top unit thus far and has been most impressive. "I’ve really been impressed with him so far," coach Rick Tocchet said of Keller. "He’s a respectful kid, but he’s got swagger. I like that about him. He’s around the puck. He’s not scared. He wants to be out there. He’s looking back at me like, ‘I want to be out there, Coach.’ I like that. He’s not hiding, and obviously the potential’s there. Just gotta keep the process with him, make sure he does the right things off the ice to prepare himself, but so far he’s been really good." Keller has to be considered one of the favorites for the Calder Trophy. Look for a 20-plus goal season and 45-50 points from the seventh overall pick in the 2016 Draft.

Jordan Martinook has signed a two-year, $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Coyotes.

Martinook's agent said that the two sides were "close" to a contract extension on Friday, so this agreement doesn't come as a surprise. This makes the arbitration hearing scheduled for Wednesday moot. He had 11 goals and 25 points in 77 games last season.

Tobias Rieder, who had ankle surgery over the summer, is confident that he'll be available for Arizona's season opener.

"On the ice, it actually feels pretty normal," Rieder said. "It’s just running off the ice it still feels a little weird, but there’s no pain or anything." Rieder was in Monday's preseason game, marking his debut since the surgery. He'd like to get into another game or two before the regular season, but it seems fair to believe at this point that he'll be a part of the opening game lineup.

Anthony Duclair feels he was too focused on passing the puck during the 2016-17 campaign.

Duclair went from scoring 20 goals and 44 points in 81 contests in 2015-16 to just five goals and 15 points in 58 games last season. After that sophomore slump, the 22-year-old has been reviewing game footage over the summer to pinpoint what went wrong. "It really opened up my eyes just to see where my game was at last year and why it was a struggle at times," Duclair said. The hope is that he'll be more aggressive in 2017-18 with an emphasis on driving to the net and shooting the puck. The Coyotes inked him to a one-year "show me" contract worth $1.2 million.

Fischer was a healthy scratch on Wednesday and he wasn't going to draw back into the lineup with Shane Doan returning from the sidelines. With that in mind, Fischer is better served being in the AHL for now so that he can get some playing time.

That's great news for Arizona fans and poolies as OEL was helped off the ice after his injury Saturday and it did not look good. "Obviously, we dodged a bullet on this one," coach Rick Tocchet said. "He’s a big part of our team. It’s nice to know he’s not going to be out long." Look for Ekman-Larsson to get 20 goals and 50 points if he can stay healthy this season. Draft him accordingly.

Alex Goligoski scored a late third-period goal in the 3-1 loss to St Louis Wednesday night to keep the Coyotes from being shutout.

Goligoski earned his third point in the last five games. This increased his goal total to six and point total to 32. Goligoski’s goal was the only of the night for the Coyotes and was assisted by Christian Dvorak and Clayton Keller. This was Keller’s first NHL point since he started with the team in Monday night’s matchup against St Louis.

Niklas Hjalmarsson was surprised and elated by his trade from Chicago to the Coyotes.

Hjalmarsson had only known the Blackhawks in the NHL as he played on their blueline for all or parts of 10 seasons. But he is looking forward to the new challenge of playing with Arizona and especially on the first pairing with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. "He’s one of the better D-men in the league, so hopefully I can complement him with just playing my style of hockey," said Hjalmarsson, of Ekman-Larsson. "At the same time, maybe try to develop a little bit more of a puck-moving element to my game and be more involved offensively. But at the same time, playing defense first has always been my strength. That’s what I’m expecting of myself." Hjalmarsson had only five goals and 18 points last season but the trade to Arizona should get him closer to 25-30 points.

He is still a while away from returning to the lineup as he was injured in August skating and required knee surgery. The talented blueliner should be drafted in keeper leagues but in re-draft pools, he should be left on the waiver wire until healthy.

Arizona acquired Demers from the Florida Panthers on Sunday in exchange for Jamie McGinn. "It’s nice to get in and meet everybody through training camp and kind of go through the growing pains together," Demers said. "It’s good. I’d rather that than I was traded 20 games in, and it takes a while to kind of mix with everybody. So it’s nice here. Now I can meet everybody and get used to everybody." The plan is for Demers to get a few days to settle in with Arizona before he's inserted into a preseason contest. The Coyotes see him as a top-four defenseman, but it's not clear yet who his defensive partner will be.

It is worth $650,000 on a one-way contract. The defenseman had two goals and 11 points in 31 games last season with the Rangers but he will get to play more with Arizona and could get 25-30 points in a full season.

The Arizona Coyotes have added plenty of experience to their roster following the trades for Antti Raanta, Derek Stepan and Niklas Hjalmarsson.

Hjalmarsson has won the Cup three times while Raanta had his name engraved once as a Blackhawk, although he did not see any playoff action. Raanta will give the Coyotes solid goaltending and should see action in 50-60 games barring injuries. "He loves being a part of a team that goes out and wins hockey games," Stepan said. "He loves to be the guy that gets it done. That’s something that he’s going to do in Arizona." Raanta was 16-8-2 with the Rangers last season and chipped in with a 2.26 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

Louis Domingue suffered an upper-body injury in Monday's game against the Anaheim Ducks.

Domingue was injured in the second period and he never returned. The Coyotes tweeted that he was being held out for "precautionary reasons". It doesn't sound like the injury is very serious, but they'll probably provide an update in the next day or so. We'll consider Domingue day-to-day for now.